Mazda respects the diversity of employees, and we aim to foster a corporate climate in which employees can express their individuality while working together to contribute to the Company. To ensure workplace diversity, since FY2005 Mazda has set specific numerical targets for the percentage of employees with special needs and for the number of female employees, and uses these percentages as a business performance index. Mazda also promotes the employment of seniors and ensures that they can pass down their skills and expertise.

As part of Tomoiku (mutual learning) human resource development, whereby people learn by noticing and understanding others, Mazda is pressing ahead with developing and improving a workplace environment that values diversity and enables people in various situations, including those with disabilities to succeed. During FY2008 Mazda recruited 17 employees with special needs, and the number increased to 254 by the end of FY2008, an employment ratio of people with special needs of 1.88%.

In 2008, the Company established a Physical Challenge Support Desk to improve the workplace environment, where disabled people can work productively. This desk enables employees with special needs to consult with a special career counselor regarding their work-related concerns.

Since 1998, Mazda has been committed to promoting the hiring and utilization of women employees. The Company has provided a Female Employee Counseling Desk, reviewed its treatment of female workers, abolished the distinction between general office work and career-track employment, recruited female production staff and engineers, and started actively hiring women in mid-career.

In FY2008, measures to improve work-life balance were greatly expanded and new measures introduced to enable employees to choose a flexible working style in line with their varied needs, including the introduction of working from home and the extension of childcare leave. Mazda is endeavoring to foster a workplace environment and climate in which all employees, including women, can enjoy their work, and we will continue to strive to support employees' growth and self-realization in the future.

Mazda is actively recruiting seniors and facilitating the transmission of their skills and know-how. In FY1990, we established the Senior Family system to rehire technical employees engaged in automobile manufacturing who had reached the mandatory retirement age. In 2006 this system was refined with the addition of the Family of Experts System and now includes over 300 types of job, providing a mechanism whereby experts can pass on their expertise, skills, and know-how. In FY2008 there were 88 employees in the Senior Family system and 1,177 in the Family of Experts system.

Mazda is actively working to ensure equal employment opportunities, by various means including the development of fair recruitment processes adapted to the circumstances of different countries. The Company is also developing a foundation for the exchange and utilization of human resources throughout the Group as a whole, through the Global Human Resources Conference and other means, to enable a diverse range of employees to succeed on the global stage regardless of their country of origin or place of employment.